Apparel belts are clothing accessories commonly worn by men, women, and children. The belts are generally threaded through a series of belt loops on a clothing garment, such as a pair of trousers or a skirt, and function to prevent the waist band of the clothing garment from slipping below the waist of the wearer. Belts are also commonly worn as fashion accessories. In many circumstances, a person wears a belt primarily to enhance the visual appeal of his or her apparel.
A conventional belt is comprised of an elongated strap having a series of orifices at one end and a belt buckle affixed to the other end. The belt buckle has a prong for insertion through any one of the orifices. A belt loop is attached to the side edges or the back of the belt strap near the buckle to retain the free end of the belt strap when the belt is buckled. Belt straps are manufactured from a variety of materials; most commonly leather, fabric or plastic. The buckles are conventionally manufactured from metal. There is a significant consumer demand for belts of high quality. These belts may have straps and belt loops manufactured from fine or exotic leathers and belt buckles manufactured from precious or semi-precious metals.
Belts are generally displayed for sale on plastic belt hangers designed to hook onto the rod of a merchandising display rack. The belt buckle is detachably affixed to the hanger in any one of a variety of means and the belt strap depends loosely therefrom. This form of belt display device enables a potential purchaser to remove the belt and hanger from the display rack and, by placing it around his or her waist, verify whether it is the correct size. An example of such a belt hanger is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,741 issued Apr. 9, 1991 (Kolton et al.). One problem with this type of belt hanger is that when a plurality of belts are hung from the same rod of a merchandising display rack, or otherwise displayed in close proximity, there is contact between adjacent belts. When consumers and merchandisers handle the belts, belt buckles and straps may be scratched or otherwise damaged resulting in either the sale of a substandarad product or the inability to sell a defective product. This situation is particularly problematic with high quality belts due to the potential for significant financial loss and the fact that belt straps made from exotic and fine leathers are particularly prone to marring.
Another of the drawbacks with this type of belt hanger is that it provides an insufficient substrate for the provision of information regarding the belt. While plastic belt hangers can normally accommodate a label indicating the size of the belt and, possibly, the brand name, they do not allow for the display of other product information or trade-marks.
It is also known to display belts for sale in clear plastic boxes such as the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,605 issued Jul. 17, 1962 (Clement). While this type of holder protects the belts from damage more effectively than plastic belt hangers do, it does not adequately display the features of the belt. Merchandisers also find that the plastic boxes take up too much space. Furthermore, potential purchasers cannot feel the material from which the belt is constructed or verify whether the belt is the correct size without removing the belt from the box.
In addition to the aforementioned problems in displaying belts, there are also problems which arise from the conventional method of shipping belts from the manufacturer to the merchandiser. Belts are generally shipped from the manufacturer to the merchandiser in boxes. Typically, five to ten belts are formed into a coil and placed in a box. The box may contain one such coil or may contain two or more coils stacked on top of each other. With this method of packaging, there is nothing to protect a belt buckle or a belt strap from being scratched or otherwise marred by the buckle of an adjacent belt. In addition, after having been coiled for a period of time, leather belt straps tend to set in a coiled shape. Thus, once a shipment of belts is received by the merchandiser, the belts must be hung for a period of time to straighten them before they can be put on display. Although higher quality belts may be placed in a plastic or paper sleeve within the box, the plastic or paper sleeves are prone to slip off the belt and thus do not adequately protect it during shipping. Furthermore, if the belt is placed in a plastic or paper sleeve, the sleeve must be removed and discarded once the belt has been received by the merchandiser. The belt must then be installed on some form of hanger for display. Once the belt has been purchased, the sleeve is generally no longer available to cover the belt and it is therefore rolled and placed in a bag or box for the consumer. The form of packaging used by the merchandiser also fails to protect the belt from being scratched or otherwise marred.
Thus, there is a need for a belt holder which can be used to display an apparel belt and at the same time serve to protect it from physical damage. There is also a need for a means to protect apparel belts during shipping and in post-purchase packaging.